Manufacture of footwear



Dec. 4, 1956 c. D. PORTER MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEAR Filed Jan. 3, 1956UVVENTOR C 4?. firfirr 49/ United States Patent MANUFACTURE OF FOOTWEARClinton D. Porter, Granby, Quebec, Canada, assignor to The Miner RubberCompany Limited, Granby, Quebec, Canada Application January 3, 1956,Serial No. 557,195

7 Claims. (Cl. 36-7Z) This invention relates to the manufacture offootwear and particularly to the manufacture of protective footwear foruse by lumbermen and others whose work brings them into contact withheavy moving objects.

The invention consists essentially in the provision of protectivelayers, either built into the footwear or attached thereto in the formof pads, which will shield against penetration of the footwear by eitherpiercing or cutting objects, the protective layers being light in weightand having a maximum of flexibility.

It has been the practice in footwear of this nature to provide built-inridges of considerable length over various portions of the footwearnormally requiring protection, these ridges, in many cases, beingreinforced by strips or pads of solid material such as heavy leather orsteel strips. Such reinforcements added considerable weight to thefootwear and in many cases were so rigid as to render the footwearalmost unwearable, particularly where considerable walking over roughcountry is involved.

In the present invention, very thin pads are formed of lightweight discsor washers laid haphazardly between two layersof rubber vulcanizedtogether, the pads being shaped I through, by a flexible and lightweightpad reinforced with a multitude of flat rigid pieces sandwiched betweentwo thin layers of rubber.

A further object of the invention is to provide preshaped pads ofvulcanized rubber and discs or washers for assembly as protective layersin footwear.

A further object of the invention is to provide footwear in which theprotective pads or layers are fitted without detracting from the outwardappearance of the footwear.

These and other objects will be apparent from the following detailedspecification and the drawings forming a part thereof, in which- Fig. lis a perspective view of a lumbermans boot showing dotted, the discs orwashers embedded in layers of rubber to give protection to the essentialareas of the boot.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of a small section of the protective layer ofrubber and washers with a part of the top layer cut back to expose thewashers.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the protective pad beforethe inner and outer sheets of rubber have been vulcanized together.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the inner andouter sheets of rubber vulcanized together through the centres of thewashers and around their periphery.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 55 of Fig. 1 showing theprotection as a pad secured to the outer surface of the footwear.

Fig. 6 is a fore and aft section through the toe cap and vamp of boot.

Referring to the drawings the footwear shown and described is the typeworn by lumbermen but the invention could equally well be applied tofootwear worn by workmen in heavy industry and by certain athletes. Theboot 1 is usually made having a rubber sole 2, a rubber vamp 3 andcounter 4 with a rubber inner sole 5 and toe cap 6, while the boot upper7 is usually made of leather with a leather tongue 8 completing theassembly.

in the present invention, the reinforcing pads are made of tworelatively thin inner and outer sheets of rubber 1t) and 11 betweenwhich are sandwiched the small lightweight discs or washers 12. Thesewashers are preferably made of steel but could be made of otherlightweight alloys or of plastic, fibre glass or other such material tosuit particular applications, and, while apertured washers are describedand illustrated, these could be replaced by punchings or stampings ofany shape or size, either solid or apertured. In forming the reinforcingpads of rubber sheet and washers, the washers 12 are laid haphazardly onthe sheet 11 in such a manner that they do not form a fixed geometricalpattern, particularly in the form of squares or parallelograms. Thehaphazard pattern of the washers should be such that a straight linecannot be laid along the tangent to the periphery of more than twoadjacent washers without that line striking across the surface ofanother washer.

Such haphazard laying of the washers 12 will prevent any object fromcutting through the footwear without meeting the resistance of a washereven in a very short length of cut. The smaller the diameter of thewasher, consistent with sufiicient thickness to give the desiredresistance to any striking force, the greater the area of protectionwill be, while at the same time, increasing the flexibility of theprotective layer.

After the washers have been laid on the sheet 11 and are covered by thesheet 10, the whole is vulcanized together, with the sheets 10 and 11being permanently fused together through the apertures 13 of the washersand in the spaces 14 between washers.

The sheets of rubber 10 and 11 are previously cut to the shape desired,either for the vamp of the boot or for the tongue pad 15 or side pads16.

Where the protective pad is to be incorporated in the vamp of the bootthe pad 17 is fitted on the last over the inner lining 18 and is tuckedunder the inner sole lining 19 as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. Thecompletion of the boot assembly is then carried out in the wellestablished manner. Where the toecap 6 forms a part of the footwearstructure, the pad 17 can be laid on the inner side as shown and havethe inner sheet of the pad reinforced by the inner lining 18 to protectthe foot of the wearer from any hardness occasioned by the toecap andthe reinforcements or washers 12.

In the case of the tongue and side protective pads 15 and 16, theprotective pads 20 are out to shape and are formed in the same manner asabove described with the washers 12 set in the same haphazard manner.However, in the case of the pads 15 and 16, the protective pads 20 arecovered by a layer of leather 21 and held in place by stitching 22around the edge of the leather 2.1 and about the pads. The pads 15 and16 can be secured to the tongue 8 and uppers 7 either before attachmentto the boot or after, whichever is found to be more convenient.

With such a construction of reinforcing pad applied to footwear in themanner described, maximum protec- .tion is provided to the foot and legsof the wearer in vital parts without the addition of heavy and rigidbars or plates, while maximum flexibility is provided without leavingexposed areas open to cutting through or piercing action appliedexternally of the footwear. This latter effect is due entirely .to thehaphazard manner of laying the washers 12 on the sheet 11. Any attemptto lay o the washers 12 to a fixed pattern is sure to produce amultitude of relatively long straight lines of unprotected rubberbetween washers.

What I claim is:

1. In protective footwear, protective pads inserted in the vain sidesand tongue structure of the footwear, said protective pads comprisinginner and outer sheets of relatively thin rubber and a multitude of thinfiat rigid reinforcements laid between said sheets of rubber in a singleplane and in a haphazard manner, said sheets of rubber being joinedtogether between said reinforcements.

2. In protective footwear, protective pads inserted in the vamp, sidesand tongue structure of the footwear, said protective pads comprisinginner and outer sheets of relatively thin rubber cut to the desiredshape of pad, and a multitude of small washers laid between said sheetsof rubber in a single plane and in a haphazard manner to avoid straightlines of unprotected rubber between more than two adjacent washers, saidsheets of rubber being joined together through the apertures and aroundthe periphery of the washers and around the edges of the sheets tocomplete a one-piece pad.

3. In protective footwear, a protective pad shaped to conform to andinserted in the vamp structure of the footwear, said protective padcomprising inner and outer sheets of relatively thin rubber and amultitude of small washers laid between said sheets of rubber in asingle plane and in a haphazard manner to avoid straight lines ofunprotected rubber between more than two adjacent washers, said sheetsof rubber being joined together through the apertures and around theperiphery of the washers.

joined together between said reinforcements, and similar pads ofreinforced rubber secured to selected positions on the outside of thefootwear, and a covering for said iatter pads, said covering beingsecured to said footwear around said pads,

5. In protective footwear, a protective pad shaped to conform to andinserted in the vamp structure of the footwear, said protectivepadcomprising inner and outer sheets of relatively thin rubber and amultitude of small washers laid between said sheets of rubber in asingle plane and in a haphazard manner to avoid straight lines ofunprotected rubber between more than two adjacent washers, said sheetsof rubber being joined together through the apertures and around theperiphery of the washers, and similar pads of washer reinforced rubbersecured to selected positions on the outside of .thefootwear and acovering for said latter pads said covering being secured to saidfootwear around said pads.

6. In protective footwear having uppers and a tongue, a protective padsecured to the outer side of said upper and a protective pad secured tosaid tongue, said pads comprising inner and outer sheets of relativethin rubber and a multitude of small washers laid between said sheets ofrubber in a single plane and in a haphazard manner to avoid straightlines of unprotected rubber between more than two adjacent washers, saidsheets of rubber being joined together through the apertures and aroundthe periphery of the washers, and a covering sheet for said pads, saidcovering sheets being secured to said upper and tongue of the footweararound said pads to'hold said pads in position.

7. A preformed protective pad for attachment to wearing apparelcomprising a layer of flat metal washers sandwiched in place between twolayers of rubber, the said washers being arranged in random manner in asingle plane to avoid straight lines of unprotected rubber between morethan two adjacent washers, and said layers of rubber being joinedtogether through the apertures and around the periphery of the washers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS380,804 Jewell Apr. 10, 1888 645,844 Adams Mar. 20, 1900 1,566,266Barrell Dec. 22,1925 1,717,127 Toole June 11, 1929 2,706,350 Kenny Apr.19, 1955

